How to submit the application?

[shandymoo]

What is the best way to submit your application? I have an inch thick mound of papers which i assume is the norm? They all have to be seperate and nothing can be held together? Can you use the page seperators with the tabs at the side to seperate each section and evidence etc? What about when you mail it in what do you put it in because an envelope wouldn't be practical for such a large amount of papers. Also how do you organise pictures if you have glossy prints?
Is it advised to send the application by recorded mail? Can you physically drop the application off in Mississagua? As I stay near there you see.

Any tips or advice on how to properly organise an application would be very helpful as i'm in the final stages of mine. Any links to old topics too would be great thanks!

 

[QCSunshine]

There are a few old threads on this, but one I found particularly helpful was this one:
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/all-right-thanks-to-your-help-heres-what-ive-got-what-do-you-think-t30502.0.html

I grouped everything in the order of the checklists, numbered every page of the application, labeled every page with my name and my sponsor's name, and (if applicable) the form and page number to which the supplemental pages refer. My organizational approach looked like this:

I. Checklist: Canada
II. Checklist: Region Specific
III. Forms: Sponsor forms
IV. Forms: Sponsored person(s)
V. Supporting Documents: Sponsor (Passport copy, etc)
VI. Supporting Documents: Sponsored person(s) (Passport copy, etc)
VII. Supplemental information
a) Our story (we each wrote our version)
b) Photos (I used Publisher to organize my photos and write text under each photo with the date, occasion, and who was in the photo. I was able to print on normal computer paper and put multiple photos per page that way.)
c) Examples of written communication (emails, letters, cards)
d) A section to demonstrate the support of our friends and family (cards and letters from both sides of family and friends, wedding guest book pages, Facebook pages with people's comments on the wedding, etc.)
e) Proof of cohabitation (leases, utility bills, etc)
f) Financial documents (information on the sponsor's job, joint bank account proof, etc)
g) Visits and trips (printed itineraries for all trips, plane ticket stubs (when we had them), etc)
h) Other (wedding invitation, our wedding announcement from my hometown newspaper, copy of emailed save the date, a few pages of various receipts for things like our first date receipt, receipts for some things for the wedding/honeymoon, receipts from a few meals on trips we took and our favorite thai restaurant, etc.)

We included the financial information and cohabitation information as supplemental information because these proofs were not required for us (we are applying for Quebec and are married). For the rest of Canada, I believe those are included in the application requirements. Obviously each application is different, but I find creating some sort of categorization of information is helpful. Since I numbered my pages, I could also refer to various pages when I answered questions. Of course, if they re-order the application by another system, my numbering system fails, but oh well!

Also, they say not to use binders/albums, so I relied on paperclips, clips, and rubber bands. I also used tab dividers for each category in the supplemental information section. I sent mine in a box with a courier (Purolator) and a tracking number.

Good luck!

 

[MissyIffy]

Not 100% sure, butI think I remember reading somewhere on CIC's website - no drop-offs. So you would need to mail it.

 

[robrod]

Check the thread by my bud "Irish Applicant" which even has pics of people's applications and shows how they put them together and in what container as well... it's called "Post your package pics here", or something like that. He is the biggest for sure!. Fun one to read too!.
Registered mail for sure, so that way you can have a record of you mailing it and them receiving it.
Good luck!.

 

[Jeff]

Do you need your names on all pages? I have like 40 pages of Skype history printed off...

 

[QCSunshine]

I don't think it is required to do on every page, though the CIC instructions do include something about labeling supplemental pages with the relevant question number. But I personally wanted to do it on every page, and here's why: I used to work in an office that processed many, many college applications and am familiar with having tons of paper floating around in an office and how difficult it can be to match up pieces that somehow get separated (or are mailed before or after the main application), especially if there is not very much (or any) identifying information on those pages. (ie. a teacher writing a recommendation that says, "I would like to recommend Susie to your university, etc" without including Susie's last name or high school name.) Where I worked, there were sometimes even several applicants with the same name, occasionally even with the same middle initial. So it was particularly nice when a page came through that had the name and address on it. Or name and city/state, because that gave us two separate facts/details to accurately confirm we had matched it with the right applicant.

So my goal was simply to make our application user-friendly to be processed. I put both my name and my sponsor's name (which is an extremely unusual name) on every page, just in case parts of the application accidentally got separated somehow. I printed this information out on small mailing address labels using the computer, and then just adhered a label to each page. Just took some time to stick them on, but it wasn't too bad! Might not be the right choice for everyone, but I just wanted to, and obviously, I have no idea what the CIC office is like, so I am only assuming what might be helpful based on where I worked and how we did things.